Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Sells 726 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co reduced its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,866 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 726 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. American National Bank raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% during the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 745 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 33.8% during the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 791 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.6% during the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 794 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of FCX traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.41. 13,031,851 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,668,771. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.13. The stock has a market cap of $65.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.92. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $55.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total transaction of $4,162,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,430,735.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,255,381.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total transaction of $4,162,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,430,735.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 177,538 shares of company stock worth $9,096,990. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. BNP Paribas raised Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.